Travis Batch
Co-Chair & Sponsorship Manager PhD Candidate, UniSA
Travis is originally from regional NSW and is currently a PhD candidate studying at the University of South Australia. His research focuses on the mineral chemistry of REE-bearing phosphates (e.g. monazite, rhabdophane) and their application to iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) and iron sulfide-copper-gold (ISCG) exploration in the Cloncurry District, Queensland. His project is part of the MinEx CRC.
Ivan Gutierrez Agramont
Co-Chair PhD Candidate, UniSA
Ivan is originally from Bolivia, has a bachelor in Systems Engineering and a Masters in Telecommunications engineering, currently is a PhD candidate studying at the University of South Australia (UniSA). His research focus is on Generating Synthetic Data from LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) for Training Machine Learning or Deep Learning Algorithms. The project is part of Project 3 in MinEx CRC.
Before coming to Australia, Ivan worked for a Los Angeles Based IoT RFID company in the Digital Signal Processing engineering group working with RF data and Machine Learning Algorithm creation for RFID usage under different scenarios like industrial, retail and supply chain.
His interests in technology are in AI, Data Visualization, Cybersecurity, IoT, Infrastructure, DevOps, Ansible, Python, C++ and Linux Operating Systems.
Corinne Mensforth
Treasurer PhD Candidate, Flinders University
Corinne is a PhD student who is currently halfway through her studies at Flinders University. She is studying a Devonian-aged stem-tetrapod fish from Antarctica that lived in water but had limb bones within its fins. She is working with a new neutron beam scan dataset of the fossil to build a virtual 3D model of its anatomy. Corinne is also studying some new stem-tetrapod fish fossils that were recently discovered in the Arctic Circle and have been microCT scanned. After building virtual 3D models of their anatomy, she will determine whether they’re known to science or whether they’re new species. Corinne is also using some living species as analogs for early vertebrates and quantifying the brain-braincase relationship of lobe-finned fishes, amphibians and reptiles. Corinne completed her BSc (Hons) at Flinders University in 2005, and is an experienced laboratory technician.
Justine Flahaut
Program & Abstracts Coordinator PhD Candidate, UniSA
Justine is originally from France and is currently a first-year PhD student at the University of South Australia. Her research focuses on developing rapid and cutting-edge techniques to directly analyse the composition of fluids, enabling regional-scale characterisation and understanding of fluid systems. The project is part of the MinEx CRC.
Andres Sifuentes Chamochumbi
Social Media Administrator PhD Candidate, UniSA
Andres is an anthropologist originally from Peru. He is currently is a PhD candidate at the University Of South Australia (UniSA) doing a Social Research project focused on Social Acceptance in the Mineral Exploration stage, in relation to the new technology that is used in this stage, such as that developed from MinEx CRC. The objective his research is to understand the social impact, the relationships that are generated and the motivations of the stakeholders that are involved in the process of granting or withholding a Social License to Operate.
Before coming to Australia, Andres worked as a Social Specialist and Anthropologist consultant for large Mining Companies for more than 10 years, doing fieldwork and designing qualitative tools for data collection and social data analysis.
Cecilia Loyola
Committee Member PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide
Cecilia is originally from Argentina, and is currently a PhD candidate studying at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on Exploring the Paleozoic Warburton-Amadeus Depositional System with Novel Isotope Techniques. The project is sponsored by SANTOS.
She recently graduated from a Master of Science (Petroleum Geoscience) at the University of Adelaide in 2021. The Masters project consisted of assessing the geological and geomechanically viability for the salt cavern construction for pure hydrogen storage in Australia.
Before commencing the studies at the university of Adelaide she worked in oil and gas Exploration, Development and production. She completed her undergraduate degree of Geologist in Universidad de Cordoba.
Sharmaine Verhaert
Committee Member PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide
Sharmaine is a PhD student at the University of Adelaide, currently halfway through her second year of candidature. She is originally from Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), where she graduated from Ghent University with a Master of Science in Geology. During her masters degree, she also spent a semester abroad as an exchange student at ETH Zürich in Switzerland.
Sharmaine’s research focusses on the use of detrital garnet Lu-Hf geochronology as a provenance tool. This method allows us to reconstruct the tectonic histories of study areas where bedrock exposures are poorly accessible (or even completely absent), such as the Himalayas or ice-covered East Antarctica.
GSA Earth Sciences Student Symposium - South Australia 